Primitive
by Mizayo
Summary: Lara Hasting has been stuck in a rut for too long. When something extraordinary happens, how will she handle it? And when she befriends a certain someone, can she make the decision to go back to her normal life? Quark/OC Rated M for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

The terrible beeping noise pounded through the young woman's ears, eventually making her groan in annoyance. She lazily lifted her arm from beneath the sheets and simply let go once it was positioned above the alarm clock. It stopped beeping, but unfortunately the force of the blow had it toppling down off the table in a very clunky and loud way. The woman shot up from her bed at the noise and scrambled to pick it up, afraid she had broken it. After a full inspection, she was certain it was undamaged and set it back on her nightstand. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and threw her arms above her head, stretching. An obnoxious yawn forced itself up and she scratched an annoying itch on the side of her neck.

Groaning in protest, her legs pushed herself up into a standing position, ready for the daily routine. Lara Hasting hated mornings. Absolutely detested them. There was something about being woken up abruptly and forced to rush around her house getting ready when she was still so tired that just didn't agree with her. She was all about the night and the starry sky rather than the bright, obnoxious light of the hot sun. And it wasn't just her mind that didn't like the sun. Her skin, no matter how many times she tried to get it to tan, was as pale as snow and burnt in only twenty minutes in the sun. Even with the most expensive sun-tan lotion she could find, all she got were odd, extremely unattractive lines of bright red skin that was hot to the touch. Not even a slight discoloration other than that.

And it wasn't like she was some sort of hermit that only went out when she had to go to work or someone dragged her out. She liked being out and socializing. It's just that she wasn't really all that good at it. Her only friends were at work, and even then they weren't that close. Either they would share a poor joke when working together, or would ask about one's day. There really wasn't more to it than that. And they were the hermits, not her. She would ask a collouge once in a while if they wanted to go out and do something, but all she got was an, "I'm busy, maybe later," or a, "not right now. I'm not in the mood."

But here she was, going on with her life like every day. She would go to the lab, look at some germs, write some information down, and then, hopefully, she would be able to check out the telescope again. Just something about looking out into the great emptiness of space and just seeing it. Just looking at the darkness. Hoping she would see something. There was something about it that fascinated her so much. Would she be able to see a shooting star? A Planet? Maybe she could even discover one for herself. The thought made her giddy. Sometimes she wouldn't even have to see anything. Just to look out into the blackness and think. Think about all the different possibilities out there. There had to be other life forms out there, right? We couldn't be the only ones.

"Just think," she always said. "We are in one system. Our one system has so many planets, so many we haven't even discovered yet. And even if there isn't anyone in this system, there could be in a different one. Our sun is just one star. You look out there and there are billions. Stars and galaxies, with billions of other planets. And they see more stars and galaxies that we can't. Just how far does that go on? Forever, some might say. And some people are foolish enough to think that we are just so blessed to exist that we are the only ones in this gigantic universe?" She tries to explain her beliefs, if not to persuade, then at least to broaden one's mind slightly. She doesn't really care if someone disagrees with her; that's their business. But at least now she can say she tried.

And yet, with this wonderful, creative mind full to the brink with wonder, she can't get out of this rut. She gets up every morning, much like this one, and gets ready for the day. Then she goes to work and studies. She researches and theorizes, and then she goes home to sleep and to wake up again. The cycle goes on and on in an endless loop. There's no exciting twists, no surprises, nothing to look forward to but a telescope. And sometimes not even that.

But she goes on, trudging through her house and putting her blond hair up in a ponytail. She slips on her worn-out old converse sneakers and heads out the door of her apartment.

* * *

"Are you doing okay?" asks Rodney Waters. He is Lara's mentor, since she's only been working in the labs for a couple of weeks. At first, Lara didn't seem to like him much, but grew to like his personality. He always tried to keep her busy; he said he used to be an assistant, and hated how little work he was given. And he was nice enough. He didn't seem to want to be much of a mentor, but more like a friend. And he was handsome enough, with dark brown hair and deep blue eyes. But he was a tall, bulky man (it was a wonder he was a scientist and not a model) with a smile that seemed to sparkle at you. Lara didn't find such men attractive. She was a tiny, petite woman and didn't like to be reminded of her size. But he was kind, and she respected that.

Not wanting to look up at him, she mumbled absently, "Fine, why?" She didn't feel fine, actually. There was a horrible pounding in her head and she swore she could taste some sort of coppery substance in her mouth.

Rodney looked at his assistant hesitantly before turning back to a sheet of data. "Alright. Just... tell me if you feel funny. You look a little pale."

Lara nodded, almost painfully, when she could feel a sweat suddenly break out on her skin. She felt light-headed, as if the whole room was spinning and she couldn't stand still. She let out a sigh, stumbling back a few paces. She could see out of the corner of her eye... something moving. Hands wrapped around her waist and she struggled with them, tearing herself away and throwing her weight in the opposite direction. She screamed as she came toppling down to the ground, hitting her head on the concrete floor. She saw her foot curved in an unnatural direction, but couldn't feel it at all. Suddenly, she felt as if she were floating, or... no longer existing. She saw her foot dissolve right in front of her, then suddenly, everything was black.

* * *

Lights. Bright lights. Beaming down to meet a disoriented face, the lights blinded the poor woman as she regained consciences. She blinked several times before her eyes even started adjusting. She could hear a faint beeping sound from somewhere far away. As she became more awake, she could hear the beeping steadily increase. She tried to move her limbs but felt a sharp pain in her left leg. Grunting, she sat up slowly to try and look at the source of the pain, but she was unable to fully prop herself up, and fell backwards with a loud thump as her head hit a pillow.

Footsteps could be heard pounding towards her in a quick dash. Suddenly a head popped into her line of sight. It was the face of a man, tan and young. Dark hair and hazel eyes, and an excited smile. He was handsome, but... unfamiliar.

Lara tried to speak and, oddly enough, quickly found her voice. "What... where am I?" Her disoriented voice wavered slightly and sounded more like a raspy whisper than an actual question.

The man's smile grew even more, if that was possible. An English accent filled her ears. "You're in the Deep Space Nine infirmary. You were quite banged up when you were transported. A minor concussion and a broken ankle, but it looks like you'll be up and walking in to time," he hesitated. "With some support, obviously."

Lara's mind couldn't seem to grasp what he was saying. Deep Space Nine? Transported? What on Earth was this man talking about? Questions gripped her thoughts. "What? Who are you?"

"Oh! My apologies. I'm Doctor Julian Bashir. At your service." He smiled again. The happiness was beginning to get to Lara. Why was he so cheerful? She was injured and confused, why was he acting like she'd just bumped her head a bit and everything was perfectly normal?

Whatever the case may be, she still had her manners, she thought. "I'm Lara Hasting. I was talking to Dr. Waters, and I felt really sick, and then I collapsed. I woke up here." Lara thought for a minute while the doctor seemed to be caught a little off guard. "What's Deep Space Nine? And what's 'transported' mean?"

The doctor's brow quickly furrowed in confusion, obviously not expecting what she was asking. The last he remembered, they were asked to pick up an injured merchant from a minor crash. There was nobody else with her, so why was this woman talking about a professor with her? When they picked her up, there were no more life signs on the crashed ship, so there were no mistakes on the transporter... And how could she not know about the station if she asked for help? It seemed the good doctor was just as confused as the young woman in his infirmary was. He tried to remember the name of the crash victim they were supposed to pick up. "You aren't Theya Loranne? The merchant?"

Lara thought about it for a moment. She knew she was her, but the doctor did say she had a concussion. No... She wasn't the merchant, she finally decided. She was a scientist. Lara shook her head slowly at the doctor. "No, I'm a scientist. Well, an assistant mostly." Her voice seemed to be returning to her, and she almost sounded normal again. "I assist Dr. Rodney Waters, the microbiologist in our lab. And sometimes," she smiles dreamily. "I get to clean the telescope. Sometimes I'll just peak through. It's so fascinating." She seemed to almost drift off thinking about the telescope.

Doctor Bashir snapped her out of it, however. "What lab? Where is it located?"

"Chicago, Illinois, why? Is that important?" Lara could quite understand why the doctor was so intent on asking her all these questions. Surely if he treated her, he knew where she came from. Did she just magically appear in this infirmary and he just treated her without question? How is that possible?

Bashir looked even more confused. "Earth? That's not possible. And why so specific?"

Lara huffed slightly. Was this all a joke? "Of course it's on Earth. Where else would it be? Besides, that's not specific at all. I could tell you the address if you'd like."

The doctor shook his head. "We're nowhere near Earth, it's not possible to have transported you from there. We can barely get Bajor, and we're orbiting it."

"Bajor?" What was this nonsense. The doctor seemed to be avoiding all of her questions, or at least not giving straight answers.

"Bajor's the planet we're orbiting. This is Deep Space Nine, a space station on the edge of the alpha quadrant. We took it over after the cardassian Occupation. That's a big piece in history, Lara Hasting, how could you not know that?"

Lara groaned in frustration and refused to say more. She just glared at the doctor, her eyes demanding real answers. She no longer thought this was funny - well she never thought it was funny, but it had gotten too far. She refused to go on with this foolishness. Crossing her arms, she turned to her side, her back facing the doctor. There was a long silence from the both of them, as if they were thinking about a way to proceed. Neither had any idea what's going on and why the other was acting so strangely. Finally, Lara could hear the doctor take in a long breath as if to say something.

"What year is it?"

The question sounded odd to her. Why would he ask what year it was? People are usually well-informed on the year. Sighing, she turned back around to face him and let her arms go. "The year's 2012."

The doctor shook his head slowly in disbelief. It was impossible. Wasn't it? There was no way the transporter reached a human woman, on Earth, from the past. "No, it's 2369."

"Not possible," Lara huffed almost immediately. The thought had occurred to her, but she knew it couldn't be true. Even if there is some sort of space station floating around a distant planet in the future, time travel wasn't possible.

The doctor sighed and grabbed a pain of metal rods with straps on them. "Here. You need to keep pressure off of your ankle. I've treated it, but it'll still take a day or two to form back together." He handed them to her and showed her how to put them on. She seemed to grasp the idea quickly and soon found they were extremely easier and more comfortable than crutches were. She stood up and sighed as she slowly let her weight down on the supports. As soon as the doctor saw she was able to walk, he put a hand on her shoulder. "We need to talk to Commander Sisko. He may offer some insight on this, or at least give us an idea on how to proceed."

Lara was weary of this 'Commander Sisko'. If this was a joke, just how far were these people willing to go? Would they have some sort of trick of the eye to make it look like they were teleported or something and then have somebody named 'Commander Sisko' talk to her? Probably, she settled in her mind. She felt proud of herself for figuring out the prank, but instead of 'teleporting', they were walking right out of the infirmary.

Her heart sank as they walked into a long walkway. There were shops everywhere, and people talking and arguing everywhere around her. But some of these people didn't seem right. Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw a blue person, but when she looked, they were no longer there. Her heart was beating rapidly and she wasn't sure what to make of this circus. Everywhere she looked, there were tall people, short people, people without hair and people with nothing but hair. Some had markings on their foreheads, their noses, even their arms. She suddenly became panicked, and tried to wiggle out of Bashir's grasp. He told her to calm down, that they weren't going to hurt her. That they were just people.

It wasn't that she was afraid, she was just overwhelmed. If this was real, that she was in the future on a space station orbiting an alien planet, she couldn't contain her excitement. She knew it! She just knew it! People called her crazy for believing in aliens, but where are they? They are on Earth way in the past, look in at germs and writing information down. And she was here, in the stars, with aliens all around her, acting like normal, human beings. Just how different were they, she wondered. They must have different physiologies. They all looked different, that's for sure. She wondered if they acted and spoke different as well. Then the thought occurred to her. She could only tell someone was different by looking at them, but what if there were alien species that didn't look different than a human?

Cautiously, she looked up at the doctor escorting her. She wondered, if that was true, if he was an alien. She shyly addressed him. He stopped walking and turned to face her. "Yes?" he asked politely.

Lara couldn't look into his eyes anymore; her natural shyness was overtaking her. She cleared her throat and asked, "Are you an alien?"

Bashir laughed and motioned for her to start walking again. "No, I'm not. But I could see why you would ask that. You never know, someone could look like you and you would never know it. There are some aliens that do look similar to humans, but most aren't too alike in any other way. Take betazoids, for example. They look exactly like humans; they only way you can tell someone is betazoid is if their iris is completely black. But usually, you don't even have the chance to get a proper look at them before they read your mind, which is what most betazoids will do. You see, just because they look like us, doesn't mean that they are anything like us."

Lara nodded, taking in the advice like a starved puppy. If this is real, she thought, then I need some serious help.

After a long walk in what Lara now knows as the Promenade, the doctor, also now known as Julian, led her to an elevator. "Ops," was all 'Julian' said and the elevator shot up. Lara was fascinated by the voice commands, but was a little wary of the speed. She felt as if these were going too fast, but eventually it landed on a new level and her worries were lost. There were consoles placed everywhere throughout the room, and there seemed to be someone at all of them. A 'bajoran', a couple humans, and a woman with spots on her face. The doctor had been explaining all the species that she saw, but really she only remembered a few. The bajorans especially because they seemed to be everywhere. Julian had said that it was because we orbited their home planet.

They walked across the room, walking around the consoles and busy officers. They came to a large doorway which opened when they neared it. Walking in, Lara noted her surroundings and concluded that this was an office. Probably the commander's office. And sure enough, there was a man sitting behind a large desk. He had darker skin, short hair and... Lara couldn't help but notice the baseball in his hand. She was never really a big fan of baseball - or any sport for that matter - but she wondered if even in the distant future, far from Earth, they still played it.

"Commander," said the doctor respectively.

The commander looked up at Bashir with a wide smile. He tossed the baseball lightly and caught it, then sat it on a pedestal. "Doctor Bashir," he said, standing up and reaching for Lara's hand. "Is this our new guest?" Lara carefully shifted her weight to one side and shook the commander's hand.

"She is. But there's something... off about this whole thing." The doctor almost sounded nervous.

"Oh?"

Lara nodded, deciding it was time to speak up. "I'm from 2012," she stated plainly. She had long past not believing this 'time travel' thing and was just eager to go back out to the promenade and see more species. Maybe talk to a few. "Apparently there was some sort of freak occurrence and I was transported here, whatever that means."

The look of confused shock was on the commander's face, though there was still a slight hint of that playful smile. "What?" he chuckled.

The doctor sighed. "Well... She explained it better than I could have, Sir. I have no idea what happened, but it seems her knowledge is quite primitive," he paused when she huffed at that. "Sorry," She smiled faintly and nodded. "And I ran some DNA tests and they are... unevolved, so to speak."

"Unevolved?"

"Well, compared to present humans, some of her body functions are naturally weaker, her organs are less developed, and her life expectancy is almost ten years lower than the average person. And yet, she is completely healthy. No diseases, no viruses, no abnormalities except she is just not as evolved as the humans of this time are. I really believe she is from the past." The Doctor said. He didn't sound quite as sure of himself as he would have liked, but if this was all true, then he knew he had to help however he could.

The commander took a while to think about the predicament that they were in. He had sat back down, and was holding his head in his hands as if defeated. "Well, doctor, what do you suggest we do?"

The doctor looked at Lara, who was just standing beside him innocently. He looked back to his commanding officer and lightly shrugged. "There's really nothing we can do for not, Commander. At least not that I know of. And she seems to like it here enough," he said, looking over at her and her excited blue eyes perked up at the thought of staying, at least for a little while longer. "I say we arrange quarters, and see what happens for a time. If later we can find out what happened, we may be able to send her back. If she wants to, that it."

* * *

Lara had never been so confused on something before.

The commander had given her quarters, and the doctor told her to stay in for the night and see how she felt after a rest.

But she couldn't sleep with these conflicts running in her head. She was in space! In the future, living among the stars with the very things she's always fantasized about since she was a little girl! Every time at home she would just look up into the sky and think, "what's up there?". And now she knew. She didn't have to wait for night to come to look out and see the beauty. She could just look out a window now. She dreamed of going to the stars and finding what's out here. And now, here she was, living with them. It was a dream come true.

And yet, if she stayed here, she would never see anybody she knew again. They were all long dead by now. Not that she had close friends, but she would never see her family again, or hear Beth's complaining, or Hannah's excited laughter, or Rodney's charming smile. She was out of the rut, but everything that came with it was gone as well.

She didn't know what to think.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - Ah! Thank you PX for your review! Yeah, Quark romance is rare but I've always been in love with him, and I've had this scene in my mind that I've been wanting to write for some time - It'll probably be the main arch to this. Can't wait! **

**Also... this chapter is super short, I know. But I really wanted to get it over and done with tonight (or morning - It's 4 am) so I decided it was time to make the decision. I hope it wasn't too rushed. If so, I apologize. The next chapter is packed with loads of Quark, so hopefully it will be nice compensation. I'm also hoping this chapter wasn't too OOC for Quark. It's hard to decide on what I see him as and what he really is, lol.**

* * *

Lara didn't know what to expect the next day. She hadn't had the opportunity to do much sight-seeing on her walk to Ops. She'd seen many shops and little booths all along the Promenade, but she hadn't been able to see in detail what they were selling, or who was selling them. She was practically glowing in excitement by the time she found her way out of the habitat ring.

There were people everywhere, hundreds walking, talking, and browsing. Lara couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed by the sight, but she was too happy to show it. She rushed to different shops, finding strange trinkets, foods, and other supplies. She could be looking at some sort of slimy food and just turn around to see a fluffy treat. All the people around her were strange as well, and she couldn't help but stare once in a while. She found a bald man with blue skin and lines on his head and down the center of his face. He had caught her staring at him and gave her an annoyed look and stomped off unhappily. She giggled quietly and went on her way, finding even stranger people.

She ended up walking by an opened area that seemed to lead to some sort of room. It had a strange symbol on the outside of it, like two ovals and a circle on the bottom. She walked inside and found a darkened room, lit by only candles and decorated with dark oranges and reds. The room seemed empty, but there was another symbol at the far end of the room. Suddenly, Lara got the feeling that she wasn't supposed to be in there, and backtracked out the door again.

Shaking off the strange feeling of intruding, Lara looked around at her surroundings. There were more shops and stores on either side of her, but a large doorway across the hall caught her eye. There were a lot of people going in and out and, upon closer inspection, it seemed fairly busy. Seeing this as an opportunity to see more, Lara cautiously stepped inside. The first thing she noticed was a group shouting, "Dabo!" She jumped, startled by the game's victory shout. She looked around the room some more to see quite a few tables and even more customers. There were people everywhere - eating, gambling, chatting. Lara found the atmosphere quite familiar. Her suspicions were confirmed as she scanned over a long counter, complete with stools and drinks; this was a bar.

Lara never was one for heavy drinking, but she did enjoy trying new flavors once in a while. So she sat down at the far end of the bar, where the counter met the wall, in hopes for a better view of the room. After about six or seven minutes of waiting patiently for service, a smaller alien walked over towards her. He had giant, outlaying ears with orangey skin and dark-ringed green eyes. He didn't seem to have any hair, but his head seemed to be shaped as if his brain had four sides instead of two. Although his appearance was not normal for her, she didn't seem to mind much. She'd seen much stranger sights recently, and she was growing more and more fond of his overall size. He was probably only about an inch or so taller than her.

"Can I get you something, hu-man?" the alien said dryly, as if he had been having a tiring day. Lara knew she should respond quickly to be polite, but she couldn't help but notice his teeth. They were unusually placed and were sharpened to tiny points. As much as this should have frightened her, it didn't. In fact, it only made her more curious. After a moment of silence, the alien spoke again. "Lady, it's a full house tonight. Either you order something, or I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Shaking her head as if to clear it, Lara finally looked up into the alien's green eyes. "What's the rarest thing you have?" Hey, she thought. I'm on a space station full to the brink with aliens way in the future. I might as well taste the local cuisine.

Looking a bit perplexed, the alien thought for a moment. "Well, we have quite a few rare drinks, but I think the hardest to get right now is kanar. But I don't think you'd like it. Most hu-mans don't."

Lara raised her eyebrow questioningly. Do we just not like it, or is it not healthy for humans to drink? "Do you have it or not, alien?"

The bartender squinted his eyes at her and leaned in slowly. "I do. Three bottles. Are you sure you want a glass?" When she nodded firmly in answer, he walked to the other end of the bar and fumbled under the counter for a while. It seemed he was having some trouble finding it. But after a couple of seconds, he dragged out a long, twisted bottle and dusted it off, pouring a little into a glass. He put the bottle back under the counter and handed her the drink. "Have fun."

After waiting for the alien to attend to another customer, Lara raised the glass to her lips hesitantly. She tilted, letting just a tiny amount reach her mouth before bringing it back down and tasting it. The flavor wasn't all around disgusting, like she had feared it might be, but it wasn't her favorite by far. She took another sip before deciding not to drink more, and set it on the counter gently. Lara sighed, looking around the bar once again and gently rested her head on the wall beside her.

Lara couldn't help but feel torn. She had been thinking about it all night and most of the morning, but she hadn't yet come up with a decision. How do you decide whether to live your dream or the life you were supposed to have, with the people you were supposed to be with? It might have been easy for some people to make such a life-altering choice, but Lara Hasting was not used to such a weight on her shoulders. Should she go back to the family and friends that she loves and cares for, or should she stay and take a once-in-a-millennia chance to travel in time to a place she's always dreamed about? When she thinks about where she is, it's obvious she should choose the latter. But then she thinks about the people and places she would never see again and it changes to the former. Just how was she going to figure this out?

She must have been sitting there for a long time because when she finally returned to reality, almost everyone who had flooded the bar - in what felt like only a moment ago - was gone. There were some more of the same species as the bartender cleaning up tables and floors, and maybe a couple chatting on an upper level, but the place was virtually empty compared to earlier. She sat up from the now uncomfortable position to see the bartender walking towards her. "Alright," he grumbled. "I appreciate a long-term customer, but you've been here for hours and only ordered one drink - " he looked at the glass. "And it's not even half empty!"

Lara looked at the alien apologetically. "I know, sir. I'm sorry, I really am. I've just been having some trouble..." she trailed off when she noticed a strange look coming from the alien. "What?"

He looked almost confused. "You're one strange hu-man. First you call me an 'alien', a term which people rarely use anymore, seeing as we're not really 'aliens' in the true definition anymore. Besides, we all know species and frankly it's a bit rude to generalize someone by calling them an 'alien'. You're basically saying, 'hey ugly, you're not my species!'," Lara looked as if she was about to burst into profound apologies, but the bartender kept going. "And then, right now, you called me 'sir', which means respect. As if it's weird enough that a hu-man's showing respect for a ferengi, it's a hu-man showing respect for me, which means that you're either new here, or you're just really stupid."

Lara's mouth opened as if to say something, but then just shut again with a click of her teeth. She seemed to stumble and fidget trying to get some words out, but in the end only managed a, "S-sorry." It didn't help that she was just confronted by an alien about respect, but it was even worse because she was becoming more and more attracted to this alien by the moment. How was she supposed to react to that? Was she supposed to apologize and walk out, or say something smart in return, what? Instead, she settled on another shy whimper. "I didn't mean to offend you, sir. I... it's just that... I'm not used to being around alie - um... non-humans."

The alien just shrugged it off. "Eh, I wasn't offended, I was just surprised is all. I'm not used to respect." He straightened up his small jacket, pulling it downwards and stretching his neck out proudly. "I kind of like it."

Lara couldn't help but giggle at the 'ferengi's' show of appreciation. The ferengi snapped his head towards her at the sound, silencing her quickly.

"What's so funny?" he asked accusingly.

She smiled at him. "Oh, nothing. It's just that you looked really cute right then." Her eyes grew slightly wider, not believing she'd said that out loud.

"What was that, hu-man?"

"Oh, uh... nothing, sir." Lara wondered if he'd actually heard the compliment or not. She hoped not. Lara never was good at dealing with romantic feelings and her talents were surely not going to kick in on an alien she only met today, right? "Um... so, 'ferengi', what's your name?" she asked awkwardly, trying to change the subject.

"Quark. You?"

"Lara."

* * *

"I'm sorry, but we still have no idea how this all happened. It's beyond what I've seen before," the 'trill' from Ops, apparently called Jadzia Dax, explained. Lara was sitting in a room at a long table with what the commander had said were the commanding officers. The meeting was held to review what the officers had uncovered in the past couple of days. It seemed that nothing significant was discovered yet, and Lara oddly found that comforting. She still wasn't sure what she wanted to do.

"Are you positive there's been nothing similar to this?" Major Kira said from beside Lara. Lara had never met Kira personally, but she knew she was a bajoran, and she seemed... straightforward. Lara admired her.

Jadzia shook her head with a slight tinge of regret. "No. There have been rumors in the past of time travel, but that was to the past in the locations plotted, not light-years away on a planet we can't reach for a person we don't know. Besides, they are just rumors. We don't know if they're true or not."

Lara had her ears set intensely on the conversation at hand. She watched all the officers go back and forth with theories and ideas. There wasn't a glance in her direction, not a single question shot her way. Why didn't they want her thoughts as well? She was a scientist, anyway. So what if she was a 2012 microbiologist, she could still contribute somehow. Growing frustrated, she cleared her throat loudly to quiet everyone down. The debating slowed down to a stop and they all looked her way. She awkwardly cleared her throat and began to speak. "What if I don't want to go back?"

The room was silent as the officers looked at one another and back to Lara. She wasn't sure she had actually said it. Was she ready to give up her old life for this one? No, but she doubted many people would be. But she had made up her mind on that split second and it was there, out in the open. Exposed.

"Are you sure?"

It was her friend, the doctor Bashir. If anyone knew what she was thinking about, she thought, it was him. She nodded silently to the doctor and he turned to the rest of the room. He tried to come up with good reasons for her to stay, even though she could tell that Commander Sisko wouldn't have any objections. She could see that playful smirk on his face as the rest of the group bickered over morals. She knew she was going to be able to stay, and that was enough for her.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day came in a flurry of different events.

Lara was first awakened by the beeping of her quarters' computer. She didn't know how exactly to respond. She fumbled around hurriedly, running from one end of the room to the other, looking for a button or a screen or something. Finally, the door opened on its own and her new friend Julian walked in, looking slightly worried. "Why didn't you answer the door?" he asked, stepping in cautiously.

She huffed under her breath before meeting his eyes. "I don't know how. I didn't even know it was the stupid door," she mumbled, plopping down on the couch and massaging her now strained ankle. It was healing extraordinarily fast, but it still hurt at times. Especially given that she had just run back and forth through her quarters and tripped at least twice.

The doctor sat down beside Lara on the couch, bringing up a device from his pack. She hadn't even noticed he was carrying anything when he first came in. She eyed his curiously as he gestured for her to bring her ankle closer, and pressed the device to the injured area. Whatever pain had started was immediately washed away, and she sighed in relief. He smiled up at her before standing back up again and grabbing the pair of supports that she had been using since the got on the station. "That last hypo should get rid of almost any damage left. It shouldn't hurt much more, and you probably won't be needing these," he said as he gestured to the supports.

They held a brief conversation after that, and Julian left quickly, explaining that he was on duty. As Lara got back up to get ready for a new day of exploring, she realized that she had no belongings. No decorations or any of her favorite books, and more importantly - no clothes. She thought for a minute on whether or not to try and shower anyway and put on her old clothes, but she decided against it. She had the first pair of spares the commander had given her, and she was fairly clean for the moment. She did as best she could combing her hair with her fingers and making sure her teeth weren't to appalling, and headed out onto the promenade in hopes for a store of some kind.

After a long while of searching, she ended up finding a place where she could buy a lot of small hygienic things that she would need for her daily morning routine. Almost none of it was familiar to her, so it took quite a while to figure out a lot of what it was, but in the end she figured out the more important things. Like... a tooth thingy. It was a sort of laser that zapped away all the plaque. And something similar for her face, as she had a tendency to get pimples if she didn't wash it every night. Also something that greatly resembled a comb, and Lara just had to hope it was for the same purpose as she thought it was.

After buying the supplies with some borrowed money from the commander, Lara allowed herself to poke around the area some more. The place she was in seemed like a genuine shopping place, rather than just some booths along the hallway. It was almost a sort of mall, if she allowed herself to think it over. She wandered down the line, finding a store that looked to have games of all different types; board games, video games, virtual-reality type games... It looked pretty impressive. And expensive.

Lara then came to a place that seemed fairly empty compared to all the other store she had seen. She walked in slowly, her curiosity getting the better of her. As she got farther in, she noticed some chairs and mirrors along the walls. It was almost a kind of salon, really. Lara got excited at the prospect. They still had salons this far into the future? She knew she needed a cut - her blond hair flowed all the way down to her lower back, and she had to keep it up in a bun just to make sure it didn't get in the way. It was becoming long enough that even a tight bun wouldn't keep it in its place.

She walked in further, now having her mind set on getting a cut. Then a thought occurred to her: Who would cut her hair? Would they be a human, or something else entirely. A new sensation of nerves wiggled into her head and she thought twice about heading farther in. But it was too late. An alien woman came out from behind a curtained doorway and, upon noticing Lara, smiled brightly. She looked almost bajoran, with pronounced ridges on her nose, but she lacked the typical right earring that Lara had come to expect on the species, and she had a line that travelled from her nose all the way up through her hairline, which seemed to part a little to make way for the intrusion. As the woman grew closer, Lara immediately noticed her eyes. They were bright golden and had pupils like a cats, but instead of them being vertical, they were horizontal. It was very distracting.

"Why, hello dear! Are you just visiting, or you yearning for something new?" Those golden orbs were wide and alert, seemingly very excited to have a potential customer. The business didn't look like it was busy very often.

Snapping out of her curious daze, Lara smiled in return and tried to push down her nerves. "Well, I was hoping for a cut, but I don't really know what kind, to be honest..." she trailed off, realizing that she hadn't thought about it much more than 'shorter'.

The woman's eyes grew even more excited, if it was even possible. "Oh really? Might I suggest a complete surprise? I promise to make it look absolutely stunning!" she was grinning more than Lara thought possible now.

It seemed a shame to let her hopes down by declining. She didn't really have much else in mind anyway, and she never was one to go into great detail with her hair. "Sure, why not?" she said, instantly warming up to the idea as soon as she said it out loud. "Sounds like fun."

The woman jumped excitedly and ushered Lara to sit in one of the chairs along the wall. "Good! Good, here. Sit over here, and I'll just spin you so..." she turned Lara around so she was facing away from the mirror. An uneasiness settled again. This woman was obviously not human. What if her definition of 'stunning' wasn't the same as Lara's? Well, too late now, she thought as she heard the buzzing of a strange device. Lara mentally chided herself for getting scared at the noise. She had to clean her teeth with a laser, of course this woman wasn't going to use a pair of scissors.

About fifteen minutes of small talk and buzzing noises, the woman was done. She sighed, as if too happy to say so, and slowly spun Lara around in the chair to face the mirror. What she saw was absolutely startling. All of her long, overgrown blond hair was gone. It now consisted of inch-or-so long wisps of orange and gold, some bits lighter and more of a platinum, and others darker like a patch of golden-brown wheat. The colors intertwined beautifully in the small amount of room they had, and it looked almost natural. And as if the colors weren't staggering enough, the amount of weight off her head was absolutely delicious. She ran her fingers along her scalp, barely having enough to get her fingers in anyways. As she went farther back with her hand, the hair got shorter until it was just a buzz-like shortness, and the softness was almost too good to be true.

Lara turned to her stylist and thanked her profusely, inquiring how much such a lovely cut would cost. The woman smiled brightly and said it was simply on the house. Lara jumped up excitedly, feeling the air against the back of her neck and shivered slightly, not used to the coolness. She couldn't seem to stop grinning, but found her head after a few moments. The woman was still there, apparently waiting for Lara to get her footing back in reality. "So where's your next stop?" she asked kindly, stepping back a pace to give Lara some room.

"I don't know, really. I'm new to the station and was just wandering around when I came in here, to be honest. I'm not sure what else is out there."

The woman's eyes widened as if shocked, but then calmed quickly. "My dear, you simply must go to Garak!" she exclaimed, grabbing ahold of Lara's arm gently and guiding her out of the door and into the hall once again.

Lara was momentarily shocked by being escorted out, and her mind reeled for something intelligent to say. "W-who's Garak?" she asked weakly.

"Oh, just a simply lovely man! He's truly a sweetheart," she smiled again, looking down the hall.

A sinking sensation drifted into Lara's stomach. A man? Was she being set up by this woman? "Oh, ma'am, I'm flattered, really, but I'm not really in the right mind to get into a relationship right now. See, I've just got here and I'm - "

The woman's laugh cut off Lara's sentence. "Honey! No, no, no, he's much too old for such a young thing. No, he's the finest tailor on the station! He'll set you right up with just the most scrumptious outfit you could dream of! And quite a few more too, if need be!"

Lara's cheeks burned at her mistake, but she allowed the woman to escort her further down the hall. They passed quite a few interesting shops, but the woman didn't seem to pay any attention to them. They had to slow down once in a while when Lara's curiosity got the better of her and she forgot to keep her legs moving as she looked at the displays in a store's window. A small tug on her arm kept her going, however, and they ended up going quite a bit aways from the salon. They soon entered a large room with orange and red walls, and strangely styled clothing hung from many racks along the walls and scattered about the room.

Lara was pulled down the steps from the front door down to a round desk. The woman finally released Lara's arm, and she looked down to see small red marks where the woman's fingers had been. She didn't think they would bruise, but they were a bit tender.

"Elim my boy!" shouted the woman, as if calling her son for dinner. Maybe he was her son, Lara thought for a moment before seeing the man appear. He was definitely not her son, and looked to be a completely different species. He had grey-white skin with ridges all down his face and neck, and a oddly spoon-shaped indent on his forehead. He looked tall, even slightly taller than Dr. Waters. Lara gulped, feeling slightly intimidated by the size and his sly-looking features. He looked as if he knew many different ways to get anything he wanted, and that put Lara slightly on edge.

"Ah, Ms. De'tol, how lovely to see you," he said as he smiled, his voice trailing almost seductively. It chilled Lara, and not necessarily in a good way. His eyes turned to Lara's, and she froze. "And who is your friend here?"

The woman nudged Lara, and she suddenly realized that she didn't know the woman's name, and neither did the woman know hers. "Um... I'm Lara. Pleased to meet you," she said quietly, trying with all her might not to shrink back in fear.

The woman decided to speak up for her. "This young lady needs some new clothes to fit the cut I just gave her. And by the looks of it, she needs quite a few new outfits," she said, motioning to Lara's borrowed bajoran uniform. It didn't quite fit right, and the color made her look a bit like a rotting carrot.

"I see," Garak said darkly, as if the situation turned from friendly into a life-or-death situation. "I'm going to need some time on this one."

The woman nodded and stepped back, as if to leave. "I've got to get back to the salon, Elim, but just know that however many outfits you pick for her, I'll pay for at least two!" she hollered as she stepped out of the doorway, leaving the new strange alien alone with Lara.

"She's so nice," Lara mentioned, not believing that the woman would cut her hair for free then pay for two whole custom outfits.

Garak nodded. "Exceedingly so. She brings quite a few of her new customers to me," he said, gently pushing her back with the palm of his hand, towards the dressing rooms.

After a while of measuring and trying, color palleting and mixing, Garak was able to pick quite a few different outfits for Lara. There were seven in total; one for every day of the week, she supposed. The one she wore now was a small dress. It was a spaghetti strap with a white top half and a light, almost peach-ish, pink bottom. The very bottom of the dress went a bit above Lara's knees, and the sides seemed to droop down more than the middle, coming down about midway into her kneecaps. She had some white slipper-like boots to go with it. "Thank you so much," Lara said, twirling around in her new dress.

Garak bowed gracefully. "It was my pleasure," he said, then started walking over to the counter with her back of clothes. Lara paid up for the rest of the outfits and headed on out, counting in her head how much money she had left. She came to the conclusion that she had just enough for a meal at one of the restaurants down the hall a bit more, then a drink at Quarks.


End file.
